"But I bet that the morning, in the morning, we'll find us in bloom…"

A Little Setback and Group Yoga

As quickly as I began running again, I was put back on the “injured” list. I am now dealing with a bout of hip flexor strain. Admittedly, this wasn’t really even a running injury which is what makes it a bit embarrassing and very frustrating.

The Monday before Thanksgiving I went for my monthly chiropractor appointment. Knowing that my hip mobility is a problem, it is something we were beginning to work on. I am pretty sure my doc overstretched my hip flexor a bit, which would have been fine since I had no plans to run Thursday-Saturday of Thanksgiving, but unfortunately my husband’s grandfather lives on a freaking mountain. So the problem goes something like this: over stretched hip flexor + walking the dog 2x a day up an extremely steep incline + 6 hour ride in the car (placing my hip flexor in a stretched position) = hip flexor strain and no running.

Walking to the top of this multiple times a day when you already have the start of an injury? No good.

I go through stages of being extremely pissed and upset (I did just take 5 weeks off from running!) that I am supposed to be getting back into shape right now and stages of not really minding too much because it’s the holidays and I don’t necessarily feel like running or training. Plus, my spring half marathon goal is to simply be in shape to begin marathon training so it’s not a high-pressure race by any means. Also, there is the understanding that having this happen in my off season instead of during training is actually much better. But oh, how I hate grandpa’s mountain and also envy the runners that are used to using it for training.

Switching gears a little, this past Saturday my training pace group participated in a little private group yoga. I think we were all expecting more of a Yin-stye class, especially those that went out for a run that morning, but instead we got more of a Vinyasa-style class. I did have to go into child’s pose for the entire right-side pigeon pose sequence, but other than that I was pretty able to keep up. It was fun to get to get together with the group off the trail and try something else out together. Yoga is something I have begun incorporating into my training, so it was fun to do it with those I run beside.

Our group & instructor

Meghan, one of our pace coaches for the upcoming season, is very active in yoga and arranged the class. Obviously stretching, core, stability, and recovery are important components of running that she wanted to emphasize.

Yes, we have matching tank tops. Our pace group is a very tight-knit group, though eager for others to join us.

We’re warriors.

We will see how long it takes my hip to heal up. For now I am going to focus on core, strength, and stretching, since there is little to no cardio that I can do without engaging my hip. That’s the huge downside to this injury, but it is what it is.

My husband & I headed out to the huge outdoor mall yesterday to knock out some Christmas shopping. I’m proud to say that we have almost finished up our shopping. Just a few more gifts to purchase and we will be all set. I am looking forward to two weeks off from work at the end of the month and plenty of time with family.